


Awaken

by Molly_Nights



Series: Awaken [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 11:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molly_Nights/pseuds/Molly_Nights
Summary: “I get it now.” Four simple words, a heat of the moment action, and then her world was white, pure white. And a pain so strong it numbed her.





	Awaken

**Author's Note:**

> This here is just how I would see Beth Greene surviving in TWD universe.

“I get it now.” Four simple words, a heat of the moment action, and then her world was white, pure white. And a pain so strong it numbed her. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think. She could barely breathe around it. Why did she do that? Beth wasn’t one for violence unless called for. Beth was…

Beth was..

What was Beth..

She couldn’t remember, the pain stopped her from doing so. It stopped her from anything else that could cause her pain. And breathing was one of those things. For every movement caused her whole body to feel like it was ablaze. And it was just easier to give into the pain and let it all slip away. Easier to forget and not try.

 _“Breathe girl!”_ A voice shouted, and something in her told her to listen to this voice. So she did as it told her to. She took in a breath, a small one, and it hurt so much, but she took another one after that. Each breath made her want to scream, but she couldn’t. She found her body wouldn’t listen to her, she couldn’t move a finger let alone open her eyes.

So she just curled up into her mind and focused on taking those small breaths. Those breaths and that voice that yelled at her whenever she tried to give up. She let everything else slip away for it was easier to ignore the pain that way.

 

* * *

 

 

Steven watched with Amanda from the window as Beth’s group mourned her loss at the doors of their building. He noted a brunette in particular seemed to take it the hardest as she collapsed to the ground. And he felt for them, he truly did. There was no lying or hiding the fact that he had taken a liking to Beth during her short stay here at Grady with them.

  
“They aren’t bad people..” Amanda’s voice got his attention. “They were just desperate to get back their people..”

  
“You aren’t saying we should have gone with them.. Are you?” He looked at the woman skeptically.

  
“No, we aren’t fit for whats outside these walls. Most of us anyways.” She sighed as she watched them. “We can offer to help.” This earned her a scoff from him, to which earned him a small frown from her. Without saying a word Amanda walked around him and outside to the group still mourning their loss. But Steven still tentatively followed, fiddling his hands the whole way.

“Please..” Amanda spoke up after what felt like forever of standing behind them and watching the group. “Let us help you take care of her body.. Its the least we can d-”

“Say what now!” The man with the crossbow rounded on her so quickly Steven flinched at his voice. And for a quick second he feared Amanda would wind up like Dawn.

“I didn’t mean no harm.” Amanda’s voice dropped to a soft tone, and her hands were instantly up in the air to show she was still unarmed. “It’s only we have a morgue here.. And a secure area out back.. “ She let her voice trail off with the offer. It was clear what they were offering, but the thought was still tough.

“Please..” Steven had found his voice, and he ignored the slight shake of the head Noah gave. “Let us help in something..”

“I say take the woman up on her offer.” Some brusque redhead spoke up. And judging by the looks he received Steven could only guess that his opinion wasn’t much valued amongst the group. “We gotta keep moving.” Crossbow man looked like he was about to fight him before an asian man spoke up.

“He’s right..” The Asian man said, he got looks of disbelief but overall he seemed like an important figure in this group. “Maggie..”

“No..” The brunette shook her head as she stroked the blonde’s face. It was a moment so private Steven had to look away.

“He’s right.” The bearded fellow, their leader spoke up. “Maggie its getting dark, we need to move now if we are going to get Noah home.”

“Beth…” The brunette’s voice was so low that Steven barely picked it up, but he did. And he heard the way it cracked over the name. “I’m so sorry..” She whispered as she placed another kiss to the blonde’s forehead before letting the Asian fellow lead her away. She seemed so broken that even Steven felt bad for her.

“We’re going to trust you with her..” The bearded one spoke up as he gestured to the blonde.

“You have my word, Rick, she will be properly buried.” Amanda nodded, looking over her shoulder at Steven she gave him a slight nod. He quickly nodded and ran to grab one of the turned over gurneys. Rushing back over to the group he came to a slow stop at the sight of the crossbow man carrying her again. And as stupid as it was he couldn’t help but wonder if they had been something more to each other, other than traveling companions.

  
One by one the group dispersed and headed back to the fire truck and vehicles that waited for them. The lasts to leave were the Leader Rick and that crossbow man. Steven watched as the rugged man whispered a “silly girl.” before walking off and following the man called Rick.

  
Amanda and Steven watched in silence as the group drove off. They waited until the vehicles were no longer in sight before turning to walk back into the building. As they made their way through a silent corridor they heard an unmistakable groan. It was so small and soft that had there been any other noise aside from their footsteps then they would have missed it. Both stopped and whipped their heads to face each other with wide eyes.

“Did she just…” Amanda stepped back and her hand instantly flew to the empty gun holster at her side.

  
“Wait! Wait!” The doctor held his hands in front of her before she tried anything else. A bullet to the head should have killed her and kept her from reanimating.. So maybe.. Just maybe.. With shaking hands he reached out and opened the blonde’s lids to exam her eyes, eyes that were still their beautiful blue and not the pale filmy blue of a rotter. Next his hand moved to her wrist, the dead didn’t have a pulse, but she did. It was so shallow and barely even there, but it was there. With even wider eyes he looked up at Amanda. “She’s alive..” And without thinking they were both running down the hallway back to the somewhat still functioning ER.

  
“How did they miss it?!” Amanda demanded as they made a sharp turn around the corner.

  
“I don’t know! Surviving a gun shot wound to the head is so rare. I wouldn’t have been checking for a pulse either in the commotion.” He huffed as he did his best to keep up with Amanda and the gurney.

  
“Move!” Amanda shouted at the poor boy cleaning up the blood on the floor. With wide eyes he jumped out of their way. They rushed by him so fast Steven didn’t have time to register who he was. After that moment everything had happened so fast.

  
“Should we send someone to bring them back?!” One of the wards Steven had assigned to pump oxygen into the girl asked.

  
“No!” Amanda shouted. “Because what if we can’t bring her back?” She looked at Steven a bit desperately. And he knew she feared their lash if they brought that group back for nothing. “What does she need?”

  
“I… I’m not sure.. Without an X-Ray or CT I can’t say for certain.” Steven stammered as he tried to exam the wound. From what he could tell it was a clean through and through wound. “Brain injuries are so tricky, I would need to run all sorts of tests.. Exams.. Worse case scenario I need to open her up but we just aren’t prepped for that. I’m not a neurosurgeon!” He could feel the anxiety begin to rise in him.

“I know, I know.” Amanda tried to placate the doctor who seemed to be growing more flustered by the moment. “Just do what you can, and what you’re comfortable with. We’ll take it from there..”

  
“Yeah..” Steven nodded as he looked down at the girl he once considered a friend. “We’ll need a blood transfusion too!”

 

* * *

 

“So.. We’ll just leave her on life support then?” Amanda asked as they stood behind a glass, looking into the room the blonde girl remained. It still seemed surreal to her that after two weeks the girl’s pulse was still going strong. Unfortunately her lungs weren’t as strong, and Steven did have to open her skull to ease any inflammation. But she was still there, still living and breathing.

  
“If you don’t mind wasting the resources..” Steven answered from his spot beside her, not noticing the frown on Amanda’s face. Beth was stubborn.. Even in this aspect.

  
“I’m not Dawn..” Amanda frowned as she turned her attention back to the blonde. “This girl was nice to us all here.. We’ll give her another week, hopefully she can start breathing on her own until then. If not we’ll have to look into scavenging the other hospitals and clinics in this city..”

  
“W-We?” He gave her an incredulous look.

“Yes, we.” She nodded. “You’re the only one who knows what the equipment we’ll need looks like. And what could be useful to us.”  
He couldn’t argue with her there. But that didn’t mean he had to like the idea.

 

* * *

 

 

“So she’s breathing on her own now?” Amanda smiled as she leaned over the girl. It was nice to finally see her without any machines down her throat.

  
“Yes.” Steven smiled as he watched the blonde girl. He was happy she was doing better. Those first 3 weeks were frightening. Every fever spike, seizure, and heart flutter had him on edge.

  
“So when do you think she’ll wake up?” Amanda asked the much dreaded question.

  
“I don’t know.. Today, tomorrow, a week from now, a year.. It all really depends on her..” Steven admitted with a small sad smile. “And even then we don’t know the damage that was caused until afterwards..”

  
“Oh.. I see..” Amanda sighed as she stood up straight and stepped back from the bed. “Well we can keep her comfortable until then. I’ll leave her in your care from here on out.”

  
“Yes..” Steven nodded.

 

* * *

 

“ _Whatcha doin’ girl?”_

 

The voice asked for the zillionth time. And Beth wanted so desperately to answer it but she had stopped trying long ago. It was the only thing keeping her sane in this endless abyss. The only thing that reminded her she was Beth. Because when she slipped too far under it shouted out to her. A voice so desperate she hated hearing it during those times.

_“Keep breathin’ girl.”_

The voice echoed after some time. It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours, she’d never know. There was no telling time here for Beth. There was simply now. Now and the occasional memory that flittered through. But those memories were scarce. And sometimes she felt like she may be making them up just to force a memory. Because in the end all she saw were images and flashes. And only ever one voice. His voice. But never his face.

_“Beth.. Keep breathin’ girl.. And when you’re ready wake up.”_

 

* * *

  
_“Wake up, Beth!”_

_“WAKE UP!”_

 

* * *

 

 

“STEVE!!” The blonde woke up to the sound of a voice screaming. The next thing she heard was the sound of feet before a bright light was shined into her eyes. With a soft groan she tried to push the offending person away, only to find her body was too weak to properly listen to her will.

“I don’t believe this.. You actually woke up.. Welcome back Beth.” A man with glasses gave a soft incredulous laugh as he smiled down at her.

“Who..?” The girl questioned him in confusion. But when he ignored her question and began asking his own she grew irritated. “Who are you!!” She demanded in a voice that felt like it took all her energy to shout in.

Who was he?

Where was she?

Better yet... _who_ was she?!

Panic rose in her, and the smile on Steven’s face vanished.

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Steven watched her with a frown as she packed the last of her bag.

"Of course." Beth nodded as she zipped up the bag and walked to her dresser where her favorite knife sat.

“Its been just over a year and your memory still isn’t a hundred percent yet!” Steven’s voice held back none of his worry and desperation for her to stay. “It’s been two years. They can be long gone by now, or worse..”

"They're family Steve.." The blonde looked up at him from where she was strapping in her knife to her person. "I got to at least try and find them."

 

"You ready?" Beth looked over her shoulder at the voice, smiling at the brunette that had helped her all this time.

 

"Let's go." The blonde nodded as she slipped her backpack onto her shoulders. Looking over at Steven she smiled. "I will find them."

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! I know right... But yes that voice she was hearing was Daryl's. This is a prequel to another one of my works I've yet to post here.. debating if I should.


End file.
